


Hush Little Baby (Don't You Cry)

by orphan_account



Category: Hetalia - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Chaptered, Comfort, Friendship, M/M, Possible smut, Post-Divorce, nothing heavy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-18
Updated: 2014-08-18
Packaged: 2018-02-13 17:58:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2159859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Amelia and Anya are the best of friends, and when the little five year olds insist on a playdate their fathers are forced to interact. Which is awkward at first for any pair of parents, but sooner or later they begin to realize they don't mind spending time together.<br/>A 'we're both single parents and our daughters are best friends' au I came up with in the moment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hush Little Baby (Don't You Cry)

"Annichka, _davai._ You cannot run around in your pajamas while your friend is over." Ivan insisted, a bit more stern this time around. To no avail, of course, because little Anya continued to run in circles on the carpet in her pale pink onesie. It was more than a little cute. Her chubby legs pumped earnestly in dull thumps against the carpet as she chased herself, little lungs working rapidly in excited gasps and giggles. If it wasn't such a nice sight he would have dove in and scooped her up to force her into her clothes, but he only let a little smile of adoration cross his face as he watched his daughter.

However, as much as she was the apple of his eye, he had been holding a rhinestone pair of toddler's jeans for about 5 minutes in the doorway. 

"Look look! There are butterflies on the side!" He exclaimed, pointing out the design on the pants. This curbed the 5 year old's action a little and she panted to stare at what her father was outlining. Her pale, chubby cheeks (which she got from Daddy) were flushed a soft pink much like her pajamas and her platinum blonde hair was matted and frizzy with physical activity. A glimmer of hope cracked through Ivan's smile, but at that realization Anya continued to run. She wouldn't let him win this round.   
Ivan's smile fell almost immediately and he exhaled. _'I didn't want to have to do this.'_ He thought to himself. _'But we have to do this the hard way.'_

Ivan let out a low, guttural growl and kneeled closer to the floor. Anya let out a delighted shriek in return and ran in her circle even faster, legs working more quickly. Ivan lurched forward and swiped her from her path, only to get more screams and kicks. It was all in good fun, but she landed a few hearty whomps in the ribs that would definitely leave a bruise. That was his girl. 

They wrestled and fought to get Anya ready for a good ten minutes. When he was finished, she was groomed, dressed, her teeth were brushed and she was ready for her playdate. Her father, on the other hand, was in a worse state than he started in. His hair was messy, he was flushed and breathless, his clothes were disheveled and he just wanted to go back to sleep.   
But he couldn't.

_Ding dong!_

"Amelia!" Anya cried and shimmied out of her father's arms to dash towards the door. He sat on her bed for just a minute to run his hand through his hair and catch his breath. How did she have so much stamina? 

Straightening his clothes as he walked to the front door, Ivan saw Anya standing on the tips of her toes to try and turn the lock. He put his hands right under her armpits and lifted her up an inch or two to aid her in her endeavors.

"Amelia!" Anya cried again.

"Anya!" Another little voice shrieked in unison to the first baby voice. Next thing Ivan knew the two were hugging it out in the hallway. He smiled and turned to the man still standing outside.

"Alfred!" The other man exclaimed, much to Ivan's confusion. He held his palms out and shook them in a jazz hands manner and laughed awkwardly. When he saw that his joke went right over Ivan's head he cleared his throat and held a hand out for a handshake. "A-Amelia's dad. Nice to meet you in person!" 

"Mm!" Ivan hummed in understanding. "The pleasure is all mine. Um...Ivan!" He said, trying to pretend he was shouting as well. But it was extremely awkward, so he just cleared his throat as he shook the other Dad's hand.

He spoke to Alfred over the phone a couple of nights before this. When Ivan first picked up he was shocked by how young the man on the phone sounded. He must have been in his mid twenties, but the voice took Ivan back to some of the 16 year olds he knew in high school. Plus he used slang and spoke with more exuberance and energy than he would normally expect from a parent with a young child. It probably meant he was doing well, and Ivan commended him for that. Silently of course.   
Alfred informed him that Amelia just could not shut up about her friend at school and he looked at the PTA newsletter to get his phone number, if he didn't mind. He just wanted to set up a day when they could spend time together. Maybe then she would be quieter. Ivan quickly agreed to a time and date and was gracious enough to suggest they come over to his house. 

Now that Alfred was here, Ivan's suspicions about age only grew. His guest had nice sandy blonde hair, blue eyes, glasses and a very slight tan. He just reeked of immaturity, but at the same time had that fatherly aura around him. The type that only kids and other fathers understood. He stood aside to let him into the house and walked after him as they followed their daughters. The girls made a sharp left into Anya's bedroom without the adults. 

"Behave Amelia!" Alfred cried after her just in time to get the door slammed on him. Both Dads flinched. "Well then...um...at any rate, thanks a ton for letting us come over, brother. I swear my daughter loves your kid. Anya is it?"

Ivan nodded politely. "Yes, Anya."

"She's really cute."

"Thank you. Your daughter too."

"Thanks dude!"

A moment of silence passed between the two men and they shuffled awkwardly in the hallway. Ivan hadn't even anticipated this. The awkward meeting of parents. "Well do you want to go into the living room? I can make us coffee."

"Yeah that would be awesome! Thanks." Alfred replied and hurried into the living room. He must have been feeling awkward too. Damn. Ivan sighed. Today would be a long day, but at least Anya would be happy. 

Anya's happiness was the most important thing in his life. The former first left him five years ago, when he held his baby girl in his arms for the first time. That day in December was the epitome of bittersweet. He lost someone and gained someone else. Needless to say, it was very difficult for the single Dad. As he watched the last of the coffee drip into the pitcher he blinked the thought away and cleared his throat. "Milk? Sugar?" He called into the living room. 

"Both please! And a lot of it!" Alfred returned. That said a lot. Ivan took his the opposite way, black and with barely any sugar. It was stronger that way. He remembered once Anya caught a whiff of the coffee and she wrinkled her nose in such obvious repulsion that he laughed for about a minute straight. Kids were so animated. 

Ivan sat across from Alfred in the living room and handed him his coffee. Alfred muttered a thanks and blew on the top. Ivan mimicked him. 

"Having a daughter is rough isn't it?" Alfred asked, deciding to go with Dad talk. Perhaps the exchange of Dad jokes. "At least you look like it is." He gestured flippantly at the state of Ivan's hair and dress.

Ivan smiled and laughed a little, running his hand through his hair again to smooth it out. "Ah yes. I am sorry. She really did not want to get dressed this morning. We had a bit of a wrestling match."

"Neither did Amelia!"

"Really?"

"Yup. The squirt insisted on dressing herself. Hence her outfit." Alfred rolled his eyes as he took an experimental sip on his coffee. Too hot, Ivan could tell, as Alfred winced and recoiled from the cup. 

"I didn't notice."

"Pink cowboy boots. Girl scout shirt. Black and white striped tights. She looks like a parade float for Christ's sake." He said with a little smirk. Ivan cocked an eyebrow and gave a chuckle. "You really didn't notice?"

"Surprisingly no."

"Were you distracted by all this?" Alfred asked and balled his free hand up into a fist under his chin and fluttered his eyelashes. Ivan's throat caught and a bit of coffee stopped itself from dashing towards his windpipe. He coughed heartily a few times as the two men laughed. Ivan wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and shook his head. 

"Yes yes. Of course I was." He said between little bursts of leftover laughter. Another silence passed between them, but this one was a tad more comfortable than the last. They both still had smiles on their faces as they sipped their coffee and Ivan decided he liked this man. "The hair is harder." Ivan said finally, Alfred's blue eyes flitting over to him over the coffee mug. "They get stuff stuck in there and always want a different hairstyle."

Alfred hummed as he finished a sip of his coffee. "Oh hell yeah, man. Just a few nights ago I found a worm in there. Kid told me it was her son. Apparently Anya had one too?"

Ivan's eyes widened and he leaned forward a little. "She what?"

Alfred chuckled in his boyish voice and shook his head. "Oh-ho-hooo no. You didn't find the fucker? Ah well. That was a while ago. Its probably gone by now."

Ivan shivered anyway imagining all the time he ran his hands through his daughter's long, beautiful hair. Or how her pillow was seemingly so clean on the outside. "That is disgusting." He muttered and took a hearty sip of coffee to cope. \

"Yeah. But when we were kids that was how it went, right?"

"I suppose."

"You suppose?"

Ivan shrugged and set his coffee aside as he sat back into the couch and crossed his legs. "Well I had a lot of animal friends. Not so much people friends."

"You mean in Europe?" Alfred asked. He probably caught the accent. Ivan nodded. 

"Russia. I remember my best friend was my cat Fyodor. Fat fucker. And I also had a yak friend with ticks. Does that count?"

Alfred grinned. Ivan noted that he didn't look half bad that way. "That certainly counts. What happened to your cat?"

"Too fat. He died. How about you?"

That was blunt enough for Alfred to snort and nod his head in surprise. "A-alright. Well I had a golden retriever named Sky. My brother owns him now. And in preschool I got married underneath a jungle gym with a worm ring." Alfred raised his cup to that.

"Probably gets it from her Dad then."

"Probs. Sorry for lettin' her influence your kid."

"No. It's fine. As long as her friend isn't a yak."

"Well what if I told you I was 3/4 yak?"

"I would ask for proof...and say you're very silly. In a good way of course."

Alfred smiled at that and looked genuinely flattered. "Thanks dude!" He said and shrugged. "Well ya know, I need some kind of defense mechanism. Jokes work best."

Ivan frowned. He shook his head slowly and bunched his eyebrows in confusion. "Defense mechanism? No no...you don't need that here."

Alfred looked up from his cup with a start and shook his head. "No no! That's not what I mean. It's just..." Alfred paused and shuffled in his seat, frowning as he looked at the ground. He huffed once. "Can I talk to you father to father?"  
Ivan blinked a few times. Alfred had already seemed like the kind of guy to be blunt about most things. This must have been deeper than he thought. Ivan nodded once and smiled a bit so the other would continue. 

"I've been getting a lot of shit from Amelia's mom. We had a falling out. Or...we had falling out after falling out starting when Amelia was 3. I think she finally had enough. We got a divorce not too long ago." Alfred swallowed the lump in his throat and met Ivan's gaze. Ivan must have looked troubled without realizing it because Alfred tried to crack a smile. "But hey, laughter is the best medicine right?"

Ivan tried to smile too, but it was filled with pity and made Alfred frown. "I'm sorry about that." Alfred shrugged and swatted at the air. 

"Nah bro. S'all good. What about you? I don't see the Mrs. around." Alfred asked. Ivan pursed his lips and held his hands out, palms up, and shrugged "There wasn't a Mrs. to begin with." He replied. Ivan usually preferred avoiding telling anyone this part because there had been parents in the past who were less than accepting about his situation, but Alfred seemed like a very nice man. And if their kids were friends then why not be honest in advance? They were going to become friends by association. "More like a Mister. If you're comfortable with that topic."

Alfred's eyebrows shot up and he made a little noise, but it wasn't that little derisive noise Ivan used to get. This one was kind, even a little apologetic for assuming there was a Mrs. Ivan liked that very much as it was hard to find accepting people in these parts and decided it was safe to give more details. "Yeah totally dude. I don't mind it...actually I had an experimentation phase in college. You probably know the type."

"Oh yes...but for me it was not a phase." He had even been with men to boot? Anya had good instincts. "I'm a Physician Assistant. In the Presbyterian hospital right down the road. I work in the oncology unit and have seen plenty of remission cases that ended with...well...death. One day one of those cases turned out to be my partner." Ivan shrugged, not sure he could trust himself to say any more. Five years and he continued to get choked up.

It was Alfred's turn to give Ivan a pitiful look. He shook his head and pursed his lips. "Man I'm sorry." He said softly. "You got a defense mechanism?"

"My daughter." Ivan said without hesitation and smirked as he sat back in his chair again. Alfred cackled at that and lifted his cup. 

"I'll drink to that man. For sure." Alfred said and downed the rest of his coffee. He looked down at the bottom of his empty cup while he reflected on that and sighed. "Did he know how to do hair?"

Ivan massaged his jaw with his knuckled and looked down. "Yes. Especially his own. He had long black hair. Put it up in a ponytail. What about your wife? Ex-wife?"

That image got Alfred laughing as the first image that came to him was a Native American chief of some sort. That would have been and interesting partner for Ivan. "She's good at pretty much anything but cooking. And being less judgemental."  
Ivan was about ready for this to become an ex wife belittling conversation, which he knew well from other single parents, but the thumping of feet against the hardwood floor took both men away from each other. 

"Papa!" Anya exclaimed breathlessly. "You have to come to the room. You and..." Anya's violet eyes trailed towards Alfred as she racked her little brain for a name. She jutted a little finger in his direction instead when she came up empty.

"Ah. Do you know his name?" Ivan asked, brushing through her hair with his fingers. How did it get tangled again? 

"Amee-ya's daddy." Anya said as she chewed on her finger sheepishly. Alfred's grinned widened and forced Anya to dig her face in her father's knee. 

"Well lookit that." Alfred cooed and set the coffee on a side table. "She got it right. Guess we gotta go where she's going."

Both men trailed after Anya as she led them into her bedroom. The walls were just as pink as everything else Anya owned, but the most colorful thing in the room was by far the two girls. They changed out of their old clothes and donned whatever disney princess dresses they could find from deep inside the closet. In the middle of the room a small, plastic table held plastic tea cups and little plates. When the men walked into the room Amelia stood up and fixed the cowboy hat on her head. "Welcome sirs. Please sit." She instructed, waving to two empty chairs with her ring covered hand. 

Ivan and Alfred exchanged glances before following Amelia's instructions. They lowered themselves into the light blue seats awkwardly. In Ivan's case his knees were basically stuck under his throat. Alfred covered his mouth to hide his snickers and Ivan pulled up his grey turtleneck to his chin to hide his smirk. 

With a flourish Anya picked up a teapot and poured some invisible tea into her father's cup. Then she did the same for Alfred as Amelia recited the menu. 

"Today we have fudge brownies, bacon sundaes, chocolate covered strawberries and whipped cream because Anya doesn't like chocolate or bacon sundaes."

Alfred licked his lips while Ivan frowned. "Sounds good to me chickys." The younger dad mumbled. Of course everything was fake but that didn't stop him from getting hungry. 

Ivan pretended to sip his tea when he saw a feathered scarf discarded on the floor. He picked it up and expertly put on the fuschia mess. "Do I look good everyone?" He asked, sending a wink in Alfred and Anya's direction. The man snorted while Anya giggled. 

"Very pretty." Anya replied. 

Ivan sent another wink in Alfred's direction and the other went into a reel of giggles. Anya took her tiara off of her head and put it on 'Amee-yah's daddy'. Now both the girls were laughing with Alfred. 

The dressing up didn't stop there. They even put lipstick on Alfred's mouth at some point in the day, so needless to say everything was a blur. All Ivan knew was that the treats were amazing, the little girls were adorable, and he didn't look half bad in drag. Come dinnertime, when the sun was dropping in the horizon, Ivan ordered some pizzas and they watched sesame street. The girls kicked their Dads off of the couch for that but Ivan didn't mind. From the floor he and Alfred could eat their pizza and make little comments on the kids show. Upon review, both men agreed that the characters could easily make up a 50s greaser rival gang with the Count at the forefront. 

They decided to head out when Amelia's head drooped sleepily against Anya's shoulder so many times her friend started complaining. While Alfred dressed Amelia he smiled at the kids. "You guys have fun?" He asked. Both nodded their heads eagerly but didn't say a word--surefire proof that they were finally worked more than their little bodies could handle. 

"Want to do this again?" Ivan asked. The girls perked up a little more at that and Ivan chuckled. 

"Um...about that Ivan..." Alfred rubbed the pockets of his jeans and opened his mouth as if he was going to speak but no words came out. His eyes darted at his daughter and back at Ivan. 

"Um Anya, love, go to the kitchen and get Amelia a chocolate from the freezer. The Ferrero kind you like. Is that okay Alfred?"

"Yeah sure."

The girls walked, did not run, out of the room for once and Ivan gave Amelia a little pat on the head as she strolled by rubbing her eye. Thanks to her it might be easier to get Anya into bed now. All the toddler did in response was mumble gibberish. Once Amelia was out of the room Alfred stuffed his hands in his pockets, shoulders hunched as he flashed a thin lipped smile. "Her mom is a sore subject with her." He explained apologetically. Ivan nodded once and Alfred sighed, moving one hand to rub the back of his neck. "See...her mom has been taking me to court. Really hounding me. The first was for custody and now she wants to up child support. I can hardly buy groceries without worrying as it is. And the...the bitch is taking my daughter from me to boot." Alfred kicked the tip of his toe into the carpet angrily. "I only see Amelia on the weekends. Except the last weekend of the month, she's with her mom then too! My own flesh and blood Ivan! I mean I...I..."

Ivan didn't care about Anya's carpet, not while his new friend was stressed. He put a hand on Alfred's shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. "It's okay, Alfred. I understand. They can meet up next weekend as well. Okay?" He asked.

Alfred still looked hurt as Ivan spoke but he gave a small nod. "Yeah alright dude. Sorry for...bursting out and-"

"Don't apologize Alfred. But one thing before you go?"

"Yeah?"

"You still have lipstick on."  
\-----~

"When are they coming over again?" Anya whispered in Russian as her father tucked her in. She clutched an animal to her chest and yawned heartily, making her speech a bit deeper and slurred. 

"Next weekend. Same day." Ivan assured her and kissed her forehead. She nodded and smiled before letting her eyelids close over her little eyes. That was all she needed to know before she slept, but Ivan still lingered a little longer. 

He wondered what it would have been like if Yao decided to leave him and take Anya for days and even a week at a time. Not hearing her feet pitter pattering to meet him as he came home from work or cooing and shrieking when he played games with her. Walking around the empty house with both partner and daughter torn from him. Plus those wounds were fresh in Alfred's heart...

He gave Anya another kiss before leaving her room for the night. He considered himself lucky that Yao checked out the hard way, which he never imagined he would ever do in his life. 

He also remembered Alfred's little coping mechanism. He had to have been friendly and silly before the divorce, but it was amplified now. Otherwise how would he and Ivan have hit it off so well? Spending time with Alfred made him feel young again. It was a feeling he realized he hadn't had since Anya was born, which wasn't fair for the poor girl. He fell asleep with a mix of relief, guilt, satisfaction and light spirits in his heart. He was more alive than he ever had been before, and it was almost like he couldn't wait for his own friend to come by for his playdate on Sunday.

**Author's Note:**

> So there you have it. This chapter was written pretty sloppily I have to admit, but the next one will get you more into their back stories. If you want to stick around for that. Honestly reading this over I should have put more...  
> Davai=Come


End file.
